Last year the City Council held a series of meetings
discussing road improvements. The concern
is most people would prefer paved roads and the city needs to deal with how they
get paid for. Into that discussion came
whether or not sanitary sewer should be installed prior to paving. The discussion then worked into the concern about
existing septic systems, some of which are fairly new. This makes it difficult to install sewers and
pave. Requiring home owners to hook up
to sewer then becomes an issue and an impediment to getting roads paved. There had to be a better solution.
It was recognized that sanitary sewer installation was an
impediment to paving on at least two counts.
One was the imposition to install it prior to a road being paved. The other was the property owner was required
to not only to pay for sanitary sewer but also pay to connect and abandon a septic
system that was in good working order.
Homeowners who wanted pavement felt like they were being held
hostage.
It was suggested that the current policies requiring hookup
may be too strong and some leeway in thinking should occur. Requiring hookup within 2 years did not take
into consideration those homeowners that have made an investment in a septic
system, particularly when the system was fairly current. Cities generally require hookup to sanitary
sewers when pipes are installed for two basic reasons. One reason is the need to create revenues to
pay for the operations of the treatment plant.
Another reason is to mitigate the
advent of pollution from failing systems.
When there is one there is likely more.
With that in mind the treatment plant in Breezy Point is paid for and
operations are financed with current operating revenues. There is no evidence to suggest we have numerous
failing systems within the community.
What was suggested and implemented was a Septic System
Operating Permit. Homeowners who wish to
continue to use their septic systems would be required to obtain a permit. The permit defines maintenance criteria that
the homeowner is expected to accommodate to maintain the system. The permit also defines issues and timelines
for hookup to the sanitary sewer in the future.
It is not a one size fits all approach such as within 2 years. If a system is failing it would need to be
connected. If the system reaches 15
years after establishment of a sanitary sewer main to serve the property or the
septic system is 20 years old it would need to be connected. Some other provisions were established but
the bottom line was a reasonable nexus between the age and condition of the
septic system and the requirement to connect to the sanitary sewer.
This change doesn’t solve all problems with getting roads
paved but it does address one. There
continues to be drainage issues, right-of-way concerns and tax forfeited
properties among other things to think about when making decisions about public
improvements. We have taken a step in
the right direction towards solving some problems. Hopefully we can address other problems in
the future.
